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Every element of your restaurant says something about your brand. From the style of your dining area to your menu item names and cutlery choices, your restaurant atmosphere helps customers learn who you are.

As companies become more focused on shaping brand perceptions, they’re looking for ways to connect with customers through in-store experiences — which means they’re tapping into features like overhead music.

Finding the best quick service restaurant overhead music doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive. With the right tools, you can curate playlists and start charming customers without needing DJ skills. Here are a few reasons you should choose Spectrio’s overhead music option for your quick service restaurant.

Play Music Legally in Your Restaurant

Choosing overhead music for your restaurant isn’t as easy as finding the best radio station or setting up a cool Spotify playlist. There are strict copyright laws that prevent businesses from broadcasting songs without paying royalties that include everything from streaming music to playing live covers.

As more businesses try to add overhead music, more officials are cracking down on illegal streaming.

In Tampa Bay alone, 25 businesses were sued for playing copyright music. Each received fines ranging from $10,200 to $62,510. According to basic copyright law, your business is making a profit because of the music you’re playing, and the artist isn’t getting any credit or payment for the promotion or airtime.

When you choose to work with Spectrio, you have access to hundreds of thousands of songs and artists for your quick service restaurant overhead music, which means you can legally choose whatever music you want without having to figure out licensing fees on your own.

Curate Music to Match Your Brand

Even if you were able to play the radio or Pandora legally for your customers, they might not respond to the songs broadcast over your speakers. When customers choose to interact with your business, they expect everything to be tailored and branded throughout. Opting for casual pop or radio music can take people out of the experience, making them less likely to spend.

HUI Research studied 16 restaurants from part of a chain over the course of five months, analyzing nearly two million transactions to learn how music affects purchases.

They found that companies playing carefully curated music that was tailored to their brand (as opposed to generic pop music) saw an average ticket increase of 9.1%.

This revenue increase affected certain items more than others. When quick service restaurant overhead music was carefully selected to match the brand, sales of desserts, shakes, and smoothies increased by 15%, and sales of sides increased by 11%.

You could see a bump in sales just by curating music monthly to create an atmosphere for your brand. That’s the power of choosing your music instead of playing a random radio station.

Share Your Own Ads and Brand Messaging

Another reason to avoid the radio and streaming services is advertising. Not only are you reliant on these channels to choose songs; you also have to sit through all of their ads and sponsored messaging.

There are two reasons why you don’t want other brands playing their ads over your restaurant’s airwaves. The first has to do with competition. You might play an ad for a competing service or restaurant that takes people away from your brand. In this way, you’re giving your competitors free ad space.

The second reason is the experience. Someone considering upgrading with a dessert or drink might get distracted by an ad or focus on something else other than the menu. As a result, your sales will dip.

With customizable background music, you can play ads related to your business that you create. This promotes your brand, not your competitors.

Change the Music as Often As You Want

Music curation also enables you to choose and change music as often as you want. For example, a modern pop song may top the charts that might not be as family-friendly as you would like. You don’t want those lyrics broadcast in your restaurant while you’re trying to brand yourself as a great place for parents and kids.

If you use a radio or curation service, then there’s nothing you can do. However, with Spectrio, you can remove that song immediately and make sure it’s never played again.

Not only can you pick specific songs that you want or don’t want, but you can also change them as often as you want.

Some business owners set a few overhead music playlists that last a few months, while others add new music options weekly. You can be as hands-on or hands-off as you want with your quick service restaurant overhead music.

Test Different Factors to See a Noticeable Impact

A variety of other studies have shown that music choice affects customer behavior. Researchers have found that customers stay an average of 14 minutes longer at restaurants when the music is slower.

Some restaurants might choose this style as a way to encourage customers to eat slower and order additional drinks or food. However, fast casual overhead music might be more uptempo to encourage people to move quickly through the line and free up tables for other guests.

With our flexible, quick service restaurant overhead music system, you can decide what music works best for your location and dining style.

You can even set up your own studies, choosing different music types over the course of a few months to see how they affect your average tickets and customer times. Every business has its own quirks, and you can learn how customers react to your brand by trying different music types.

Give Our Quick Service Restaurant Overhead Music A Try

The best way to ensure a successful music rollout is to work with a company that specializes in content for quick service restaurants. We have worked with many restaurants over the years and can curate playlists that meet your needs and come up with suggestions for improvement.

Contact Spectrio today for a walk-through of our overhead music options and to talk with professionals who can answer your questions. Or, learn more about what you can do with audio in your restaurant by downloading our free ebook.